Archive for category: FAQ

This question comes out of the Parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-13, where we are told that the king found a man at the wedding feast who did not wear wedding clothes and whom the king cast out. We must evaluate the sin of this man against the background of the custom of his times. It was customary for one who invited guests to a feast, to supply a feast garment to every guest. This man apparently refused the feast garment and insulted the king by doing so, or he slipped into the feast as an uninvited gate crasher.

The wedding clothes are a symbolic presentation of our cleansing by the blood of the Lord Jesus. We can only go to the Father through Him, clothed with His righteousness and not ours (John 14:6: Jesus is: “The way, the truth, and the life”; no one goes to the Father except by Him). Whoever tries to enter heaven and the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:5-9) by another way, will be cast out and be lost forever.

The wedding garment is therefore not a garment with which we clothe our bodies, like church clothes. It is a symbol of our salvation through Jesus only. Today we may receive these “wedding clothes” free of charge, but one day, when the King comes to inspect his guests, it will be too late to change.

1. What is Biblical circumcision?

Biblical circumcision is a religious rite instituted by God (Genesis 17:1-14, 21) as a token of His Covenant with Abraham and his descendents through Isaac. It was part of the religion of Israel. Little infant boys were circumcised when they were 8 days old to prove that they were part of the people of God. People from other nations who accepted the religion of Israel were circumcised even when they were adults. The foreskins (the loose skin at the end of the penis) of those little boys and proselytes were removed by an operation.

Baptism took the place of circumcision in the New Testament (Colossians 2:11-12). The fact that girls are also baptized proves the glory of the message of the New Testament above that of the Old Testament. Because God’s sign of the Covenant was given even to small children in the Old Testament (Genesis 17:1-13), many churches today also baptize children of believing parents (Acts 2:38-39). 2. What is African circumcision?

In some tribes it forms a part of the rites of passage of young men from childhood to manhood. Initiation schools in African tribes serve the purpose of leading the youth from childhood to “adulthood”. The secret ceremonies differ from tribe to tribe. Babies are not circumcised, only boys who have reached a certain age. Some tribes have circumcision ceremonies even for girls. In the case of boys the operation is the same as the Biblical circumcision. But let’s be quite clear! It does not convey the same meaning. In the Bible it is a sign of the Covenant of God with Israel; in Africa it is a sign that a boy is transformed into a man. A group of boys who have passed through the same initiation school, form a regiment of the tribe.

Initiation schools in African tribes are for the purpose of leading the youth from childhood to “adulthood”.

But the most important kind of circumcision is the “circumcision of the heart” (Romans 2:29) which is done by the Holy Spirit. For a Christian neither circumcision or uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6). It is faith in Christ which changes your life, not outward symbols.

The question whether statues or images are to be allowed in church buildings,  was one of the main questions of dispute in the time of the Reformation  of the church. The Roman Catholic church defended their standpoint by  teaching that Exodus 20:4-6 should not be regarded as a separate commandment,  but that it must be read in conjunction with verse 3. They say it is a  commandment against idol worship and that as long as a statue is not worshipped,  it is not wrong. They say a statue is only a visible image of a personality  like Jesus, Mary and others.

But, sad to say, this led to idol-worship in  the church of those centuries. In the Eastern church (Eastern Europe)  some people went so far as to place the bread and wine of the Holy communion  first on a statue of Christ to transfer Christ’s “power” over to the bread  and wine. Some even scraped some of the paint off statues, and threw it  into the wine.

When the Reformers like Calvin and others opposed  statues in church, especially worshipping them, there arose a heavy dispute  between those who wanted the statues to be in church and those against  it, who said: God is Spirit. He cannot be worshipped by trying to make  a statue or image of Him.

There were no statues or images in the church  during the first centuries of its existence. Paul taught the following:  “Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

Nevertheless, the church imported or erected  images after the third century AD; Christ on the cross, Mary with the  baby Jesus, etc. They intended it to be for instruction and as ornaments  only.

During the Reformation in the 16th century,  reformers like Calvin and others said: It is wrong. God does not want  his children to be instructed through images. He instructs them through  the Bible and the Holy Spirit ö the living preaching of the Gospel. That  is why most churches with the Reformed confession do not have images.  They say it distracts the attention away from the Word of God which must  always be in the centre of the divine Services. And because they fear  that it may lead to idol-worship, they do not allow images in church buildings.

It seems that the big questions should not  be: should we have images in Church, but to be images of God in church.  He created mankind in His image. This does not mean that we look like  God — for He is Spirit — but that we should show His characteristics:  holiness, justice and love. When people look at you — do they see something  of your wonderful God in you? If you allow the Holy Spirit to fill and  take control of your life, He will make sure that the fruit of the Spirit  is seen in you (Galatians 5:22). And this is much better than any statue  or painting!

The Bible calls it the fruit of “the tree that gives knowledge of what  is good and what is bad” (Gen. 2:16-17). This was a very special tree,  planted in the middle of the garden (Gen. 3:3). It was not an apple, or  a fig or any other kind of fruit known to us today.

Some people think that the “forbidden fruit”  was the sex act. This is not true, because God commanded Adam and Eve  to be fruitful and multiply before they became disobedient (Gen. 1:28).  Sex is therefore a gift of God to a married couple. It only becomes sin  if you have sex with someone to whom you are not married (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Today we live with the terrible fruit of that  first deed of disobedience. But we can also enjoy the fruit of Christ’s  deed of obedience, when He was willing to suffer for your sake on the  cross of Calvary. He took all your sins upon Him (Romans 5:6-8). Now you  can be forgiven totally, and become a child of God by receiving Christ  as your Saviour (John 1:12). Please do not not allow this opportunity  for a new life pass you by!

We do not know what the skin colour of Adam was. His name means literally: “red earth”. There were no cameras at that time. Thousands of years later, painters tried to paint pictures of Adam and Eve and painted them to look like themselves. The Bible tells us absolutely nothing of the colours of their skins. When God said that he created man according to his image, he meant a being with intelligence, with a free will to serve God and to be able to live in righteousness and holiness (see Genesis 1:26) an d did not refer to skin colour.

But the Bible teaches without doubt that all the nations of the earth are descendents of Adam and Eve (read Acts 17:26). How the differences in the appearance of the nations / the narrow eyes of the Eastern people, the red skins of the American Indians, the black skins of Africans and Indian people of India, the yellow colour of the Chinese and so on came about, we do not know. Anthropologists (scientists who study man) says that the rays of the sun caused excessive pigmentation near the Equator to protect the skins. That is why the people near the North Pole are specially white. This is only a theory. The Bible only speaks about a skin colour in Jeremiah 13:23, but not with contempt.

Some people even ask why the devil is black. The devil has no skin like a human being. He is sometimes painted black because he is the chief of the powers of darkness, against the Light of God. That has got nothing to do with the skin colour of people whatsoever.

Every sinner who comes to Christ honestly finds a new heart whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). His skin colour is no factor at all.